Garment hanger



y 1951 D. I. RO.BISON T AL I 2,562,368

GARMENT HANGER Filed Dec. 29, 1945 Mull/[In M INVENTOR. DAV/0 z ROB/SON By HEQBERTJ/VELSOA/ ATTORNEYS Patented July 31, 1951 OFFICE.

' GARMENT HANGER David I. Robison, Los Angeles, and Herbert J. Nelson, San Gabriel, Calif.

Application December 29, 1945, Serial No. 638,297

Claims. (0!. 22388) This invention relates to garment hangers of the type adapted-for the suspension of coats, jackets, and the like.

The proper suspension of coats and of other garments adapted to be worn over and to snugly fit the shoulders of a wearer requires the inclusion of inclined supports for each shoulder of the garment of a width and disposition which will assure the-maintenance of the tailored arrangement of the cloth components of such wearing apparel when arranged on the hanger. The area of suspension of each shoulder should, therefore, correspond as nearly as possible with the normal support afforded thereto when being worn. Accordingly, for most effective universal utility the hanger should be adjustable with facility to coats of different shoulder widths.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a hanger comprising adjustable shoulder supports adapted for variable disposition relative to the plane of symmetry in which a hook, for suspension of the assembly, is disposed, in combination for selective utility of skirt or trouser clamping elements.

More specifically, an object hereof is the provision of a triangular frame, on the lower bar of which a skirt suspension unit is carried comprising a pair of expanding elements engageable with the inside of the waistband of a skirt and independently operable in response to separate resilient means so as to assure perfect balance of the assembly while in use, the expansion of the unit being adapted to compensate for differences in girth of such garments.

Numerous other objects and corresponding advantages of our invention, such for example as simplicity of construction, economy of manufacture, ease of operation, adaptability of the apparatus for the folding of projecting elements to facilitate packing and susceptibility to attractive appearance of materials and design, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon an examination of the following description read in the light of the accompanying drawings, in which: 1

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of a hanger which incorporates the apparatus by which a skirt may be suspended, and illustrating in dotted lines the folded relationship of the hook;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the skirt-supporting mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the shoulder supports for a coat or similar garment;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the hanger shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fi 2. Referring to the drawings more in detail, th numerals of which indicate similar parts throughout the several views, II! designates a wire supporting frame, generally in the form of an isosceles triangle with the base corners of the triangle truncated, corresponding reaches of wire frame l0 being connected by short upstanding sections H, whereby the lower horizontal bar I2 is displaced downwardly from the lower ends of the inclined sides [3 of the frame. Theends of the wire of which the frame is composed terminate in coaxially aligned extensions [4 of the upper ends of the inclined sides I3, respectively, and project pivotally into a flat semicircular block [5 into the middle of which the shank of a conventional wire hook I6 is secured in transverse relation to the wire frame extensions M. It will thus be seen that hanger frame 10 and associated elements, hereinafter described, may be suspended by hook IS in a conventional manner, from a bar, hook, or rod (not shown) during use, but may be folded into the frame to facilitate packing by the manufacturer, distributor, or the user. The hook and block assembly is secured in any adjusted relationship with respect to wire frame It! by means of set screws ll threaded through block l5 into engage ment, respectively, with the end extensions M of the frame, thus obviating any misadjustment of these parts in use.

Variable support for the shoulders of a garment,such for example as coats, capes, sweaters, dresses, or the like, is provided by a pair of arcuate shoulder supports l8 slidably mounted upon the inclined sides 13 of .the frame. Each support I8 is preferably broadened from its upper end in which a bearing I9 is provided for the extension of the inclined reach l3 of the wire by which it is carried, downwardly toward its opposite end which is rounded to morenearly conform to the contour of the shoulder of the garment to be supported thereon. To the underside of each shoulder support I8 a block 20'is secured by suitable means, having an opening therethrough coaxially aligned with bearing H1 in the upper end thereof through which wire l'3 extends so as to hold the shoulder support l8 in an inclined position longitudinally aligned with the side of the wire frame on which it is mounted. It will be observed that the shoulder supports 18 .may be shifted along the respective inclined reaches l3 of the wire frame relative to the vertical plane of symmetry of the hanger so as to adjust the supports to the width of the shoulders of the particular garment to be suspended thereon. Coincidentally, supports 18 may be tilted in either direction in a plane transverse to the plane of the frame, and then secured in such adjusted positions by means of set screws 2| threaded through the blocks 26, respectively.

A tubular housing 22 having an interior diameter greater than the diameter of the wire of which frame In is composed, is telescopically associated with the lower bar !2 of the frame, being secured intermediate the ends of the bar by means of a set screw 23 threaded through an' annular bushing 24 encircling bar l2 within tube 22. Bushing 24 is disposed in alignment with hook [6, the opposite ends of the bushing providing seats for a pair of helical compression springs 25 encircling bar [2 within tube 22. The bore of the tube is diametrically reduced at either end by means of a pair of sleeves 26 secured therein to provide bearings for a pair of tubular plungers 21 slidably encircling bar [2 of the frame. The plungers 21 in operation are adapted to reciprocate telescopically within the tube 22, the inner ends of the plungers 21 being flanged to provide seats for the outer end of the adjacent springs 25 and to prevent their projection from the housing 22 while permitting telescopic retraction of the plungers 21 within the housing against the expansive urge of the respective springs 25.

Secured to the outer end of each plunger tube 21 so as to move therewith is an expanding ele ment 28 having a skirt-engaging finger 29 which normally depends downwardly from bar l2 and is formed with a laterally-projecting lip 30 to resist inadvertent dislodgement of the waistband of a skirt engaged thereby.

In order .tofacilitate contraction of the expanding fingers 29 or either of them, we provide each expanding element 28 with an upstanding finger grip 3|, diametrically'opposed to the skirtengaging finger 29 with which it is integral. In order to further facilitate the manual predisposition of the expanding elements 28, a pair of right-angular lugs 32 are secured to the upper arc of the housing 22 adjacent opposite ends thereof, respectively. -It will thus be seen that each gripping member 3| and adjacent lug 32 are complementary to one another in operation in that by their manual engagement and relative contraction the expanding elements 28 may be retracted preparatory to insertion of the fingers 29 into the waistband of the skirt to be supported thereby.

It will thus be seen that we have provided a hanger embodying a composite shoulder support for coats and like garments which is variable in width as well as lateral inclination to assure, upon prop'er'adjustment, support for such articles of wearing apparel'in a manner which obviates any tendency toward displacement of the normal weight distribution of the garment as tailored so as to prevent sagging, stretching, 01' other distortion of the cloth components thereof.

While we have shown but three embodiments of our invention, it will be apparent that numerous changes in size, design, shape, and number of the various parts may be made, that a series of openings may be provided in tubular housing 22'for'the set screw 23 in order to permit lateral variation in the disposition of bushing 24 and provide an adjustment by which the expansive urge of the respective springs 25 may be equalized, and that separate bushings may be substituted for the single bushing 24 depicted, to furnish relatively movable seats for the springs 25, permitting individual adjustment of the effective strengths of said springs, all without departing from the spirit of our invention as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a hanger, a supporting frame comprising a bar, atube telescoped over said bar, means to secure said tube in preadjusted position on said bar, a pair of spaced garment-engaging elements slidable on said bar and having means projecting into opposite ends of said tube, and resilient means within said tube interposed between said projecting means to urge said elements in opposite directions.

2. In a hanger, a bar, a tube telescoped over said bar, a pair of garment-engaging fingers slidably carried by said bar, resilient means housed in said tube to shift said fingers relative to one another, and gripping members connected to said tube and to each of said fingers, respectively, to facilitate, incident to the retraction of said grip ping members, the movement of said fingers in opposition to the urge of said resilient means.

3. In a hanger, a frame comprising a supporting rod, a pair of spaced, Work-engaging elements slidable on said rod, a pair of gripping members connected to said rod intermediate said work-engaging elements, finger-actuated means connected to each of said work-engaging elements disposed in opposed relationship and operatively complementary to said gripping members, respectively, and helical spring means encircling and carried by said rod to normall urge said workengaging elements apart.

4. In a hanger, a frame comprising a supporting rod, a pair of spaced work-engaging elements slidable on said rod, a pair of gripping members connected to said rod intermediate said work-engaging elements, finger-actuated means connected to each of said work-engaging elements disposed in opposed relationship and operatively complementary to said gripping members, respectively, and a pair of helical spring means operatively interposed between each of said finger-ac tuated means and the complementary gripping member, operable independently of one another to spread apart; said finger-actuated means and gripping members of the respective pairs thereof.

5. In a hanger, a generally triangular fiat frame, a hook for the suspension of said frame with two sides thereof diverging downwardly and the other side connected between the lower ends of said diverging sides being substantially horizontal, means to pivotally connect said hook to said frame for movement of the hook into and out of the frame, a pair of garment-supporting elements pivotally and slidably carried by said horizontal side of said frame for movement longitudinally of the horizontal side and into and out of said frame, a pair of garment-supporting members slidably and pivotally carriedby the downwardly diverging sides, respectively, of said frame, said garment supporting members each being movable into and out of said frame, and means to secure each of said shoulder members in rigid adjusted relationship with said frame.

DAVID I. ROBISON.

HERBERT J. NELSON.

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